RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Water
and Waste Management
Water use and management, especially in arid environments, will become
one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. SWES maintains an
active and diverse research effort in the area of water management.
- Much
of the present research pertains to management of water used for irrigation
(Brown, Sanchez, Silvertooth, Thompson, Walworth, Warrick, Wierenga)Areas
of active research include quantifying the impact of irrigation management
on crop performance, crop consumptive use studies, assessment of alternative
irrigation systems, and nutrient mobility.
- Salinity dynamics, distribution, and management are additional areas
of focus (Sanchez, Silvertooth)
- Transformations and fate of wastes and residues applied to soils are
also relevant topics of study. Chemical and environmental aspects of
land application of wastes and residues are under investigation (Artiola,
Martens, Pepper, Walworth).
- Irrigation
with poor quality and/or non-traditional water sources such as sea water,
human and aquaculture effluents and grey water represent other important
research endeavors (Fitzsimmons, Pepper).
- Plant systems under study include traditional desert cropping systems, turfgrass, landscape plants and native species, and wetlands (Artiola, Brown, Gerba, Glenn).